Autumn Budget 2017

Autumn Budget 2017

Thursday November 23, 2017

Abolishing stamp duty land tax (SDLT) on homes under £300,000 for first-time buyers from 22 November

First-time buyers of homes worth between £300,000 and £500,000 will not pay stamp duty on the first £300,000. They will pay the normal rates of stamp duty on the price above that. This will save £1,660‎ on the average first-time buyer property.

80% of people buying their first home will pay no stamp duty.

There will be no relief for those buying properties over £500,000.

300,000 new homes a year

£15.3billion is being made available as financial support for house building over the next five years – taking the total to at least £44 billion. This includes £1.2 billion for the government to buy land to build more homes, and £2.7 billion for infrastructure that will support housing.

The National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage will increase from April 2018

The National Living Wage for those aged 25 and over will increase from £7.50 per hour to £7.83 per hour from April 2018. Over 2 million people are expected to benefit. For a full-time worker, it represents a pay rise of over £600 a year.

The National Minimum Wage will also increase:

21 to 24 year olds

18 to 20 year olds

16 and 17 year olds

Apprentices

£7.38 per hour

£5.90 per hour

£4.20 per hour

£3.70 per hour

The tax-free personal allowance will rise with inflation to £11,850 from April 2018

The personal allowance – the amount you earn before you start paying income tax – will rise from £11,500 to £11,850.

£64 million for construction and digital training courses

£34 million will go towards teaching construction skills like bricklaying and plastering. £30 million will go towards digital courses.

This funding is provided in advance of launching a National Retraining Scheme that will help people get new skills. It will be overseen by the government, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). They will also decide on other areas of the economy where new skills and training courses are needed.

Business rates will switch to being increased by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) 2 years earlier than planned

Business Rates will rise by CPI from April 2018. Business rates currently rise by the Retail Price Index (RPI), a different way of measuring inflation which tends to be higher than the CPI.

Business rates revaluations will take place every 3 years, rather than every 5 years, starting after the next revaluation, currently due in 2022.

Pubs in England will continue to receive a £1,000 business rates discount next year

The discount applies to pubs with a rateable value of up to £100,000.

VAT

The VAT registration threshold will be consulted on with regards to the threshold, but in the meantime it will maintain it at the current level of £85,000 for two years from April 2018

Research and development

There will be an increase in R&D investment in the economy to 2.4% of GDP by 2027, this will take the total direct R&D spending to £12.5 billion per annum by 2021-22.

This will be used to support creative and digital industries, there will also be £170 million for innovation to transform productivity in the construction sector

Research and development expenditure credit – The government will increase the rate of the R&D expenditure credit from 11% to 12% with effect from 1 January 2018.